THE TRUE CHURCH

Where is this one true Church? What is this one
true Church like? What are the marks by which this one true Church may be
known? You may well ask such questions.

The one true Church is composed of all
believers in the Lord Jesus. It is made up of all Gods elect--of all
converted men and women--of all true Christians. In whomsoever we can
discern the election of God the Father, the sprinkling of the blood of His
Son, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, in that person we see a
member of Christs true Church. It is a Church of which all the members have
the same marks.

They are born again of the Spirit: they all possess
"repentance towards God, faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ", and holiness
of life and conversation. They all hate sin, and they all love Christ: they
all worship with one heart.

They are all led by one Spirit: they all build upon one
foundation: they all draw their religion from one single book--that is the
Bible. They are all joined to one great center--that is Jesus Christ. They
all, even now, can say with one heart, "Hallelujah": and they can all
respond with one heart and voice, Amen and Amen. It is a Church which is
dependent upon no ministers upon earth, however much it values those who
preach the Gospel to its members.

The life of its members does not hang upon
Church-membership, and baptism, and the Lords Supper-- although they highly
value these things. when they are to be had.

It has only one Great Head--one Shepherd, one
chief Bishop--and that is Jesus Christ. He alone, by His Spirit, admits the
members of this Church, though ministers may show the door. Till He opens
the door no man on earth can open it--neither bishops, nor presbyters, nor
convocations, nor synods.

Once let a man repent and believe the Gospel, and that
moment he becomes a member of this Church. He may be excommunicated by
ordained men, and cut off from the outward ordinances of the professing
Church; but all the ordained men in the world cannot shut him out of the
true Church.

It is a Church whose existence does not depend on forms,
ceremonies, cathedrals, churches, pulpits, fonts, vestments, organs,
endowments, money, kings, governments, magistrates, or any act of favour
whatsoever from the hand of man. It has often lived on and continued when
all these things have been taken from it; it has often been driven into the
wilderness, or into dens and caves of the earth, by those who ought to have
been its friends. Its existence depends on nothing but the presence of
Christ and His Spirit; and they being ever with it, this Church cannot
die.

This is the Church to which the
Scriptural titles of present honor and privilege, and the promises of
future glory, especially belong; this is the body of Christ; this is the
Bride; this is the Lambs Wife; this is the flock of Christ; this is the
household of faith and the family of God; this is Gods building, Gods
foundation, and the temple of the Holy Spirit.

This is the Church of the First-born, whose names are
written in Heaven; this is the royal priesthood, the chosen generation, the
peculiar people, the purchased possession, the habitation of God, the light
of the world, the salt and the wheat of the earth; this is that Church to
which the Lord Jesus promises "the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it", and to which He says, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world" (Matt.16:18; 28:20).

This is the only Church which possesses true
unity. Its members are entirely agreed on all the weightier
matters of the faith, for they are all taught by one Spirit. About God, and
Christ, and the Spirit, and sin, and their own hearts, and faith, and
repentance, and necessity of holiness, and the value of the Bible, and the
importance of prayer, and the resurrection, and judgment to come-- about
all these points they are of one mind. Take three or four of them,
strangers to one another, from the remotest corners of the earth; examine
them separately on these points; you will find them all of one
judgment.

This is the only Church which possesses true
sanctity. Its members are all holy. They are not merely holy by
profession, holy in name, and holy in the judgment of charity; they are all
holy in act, and deed, and reality, and life, and truth. They are all more
or less conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. No unholy man belongs to
this Church.

This is the only Church which is truly
world-wide. It is not the Church of any one nation or people: its
members are to be found in every part of the world where the Gospel is
received and believed. It is not confined within the limits of any one
country, or pent up within the pale of any particular forms or outward
government. In it there is no difference between Jew and Greek. bond and
free, Episcopalian and Presbyterian--but faith in Christ is all. Its
members will be gathered from north. and south, and east, and west, in the
last day. and will he of every name and tongue--but all one in Jesus
Christ.

This is the only Church which is certain to endure
unto the end. Nothing can altogether overthrow and destroy it. Its
members may be persecuted, oppressed, imprisoned, beaten, beheaded, burned:
but the true Church is never altogether extinguished: it rises again from
its afflictions: it lives on through fire and water. When crushed in one
land, it springs up in another.

The Pharaohs, the Herods, the Neros, the Bloody Marys,
have labored in vain to put down this Church: they slay their thousands,
and then pass away and go to their own place. The true Church outlives them
all, and sees them buried each in his turn. It is an anvil that has broken
many a hammer in this world, and will break many a hammer still: it is a
bush which is often burning, and yet is not consumed.

This is the only Church of which no one member can
perish. Once enrolled in the lists of this Church, sinners are
safe for eternity: they are never cast away. The election of God the
Father, the continual intercession of the Son, the daily renewing and
sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, surround and fence them in hike a
garden enclosed. Not one hone of Christs mystical body shall ever be
broken: not one lamb of Christs flock shall ever be plucked out of His
hand.

This is the Church which does the work of Christ
upon earth. Its members are a little flock, and few in number, compared
with the children of the world; one or two here, and two or three there--a
few in this parish and a few in that.

These are they who shake the universe:
these are they who change the fortunes of kingdoms by their
prayers:these are they who are the active workers for
spreading the knowledge of pure religion and undefiled: these are the
life-blood of a country, the shield, the defense, the stay, and the support
of any nation to which they belong.

This is the Church which shall be truly
glorious at the end. When all earthly glory is passed away, then shall this
Church be presented without spot before the Fathers Throne. Thrones,
principalities, and powers upon earth shall come to nothing; dignities and
offices, and endowments shall all pass away; but the Church of the
First-born shall shine as the stars at the last, and be presented with joy
before the Fathers Throne, in the day of Christs appearing.

When the Lords jewels are made up, and the
manifestation of the sons of God takes place, episcopacy, and
presbvterianism, and congregationalism will not be mentioned; one Church
only will be named, and that is the Church of the elect.

This is the Church to which a man must belong,
if he would be saved. Till you belong to this, you are nothing better than
a lost soul. You may have the form, the husk, the skin, and the shell of
religion, but you have not got the substance and the life. Yes: you may
have countless outward privileges; you may enjoy great light, and
knowledge--but if you do not belong to the Church of Christ, your light and
knowledge, and privi leges, will not save you. -- Alas, for the
ignorance that prevails on this point!

Men fancy if they join this Church or that Church, and
become communicants, and go through certain forms, that all must be right
with their souls. It is an utter delusion: it is a gross mistake. All were
not Israel who were called Israel, and all are not members of Christs
Church who profess themselves Christians.

Take notice, you may be a staunch Episcopalian, or a
Presbyterian, or Congregationalist. or Baptist, or Methodist, or a member
of any other Church or sect--and yet not belong to the true Church. And if
you do not, it will be better at last to have made no profession at
all!